Hello I’m moving from San Francisco to Paris and I’m shipping a lot of our property. A Change of Residence certificate is required. I have looked all over the VSF and General Consulate websites. The General Consulate provides an email, but no one answers. It also provides a phone number, but none of the selections include the Change of Residence Certificate. I’m trying the VSF now, but they have been saying “Your call should be answered within the next minute.” for 8 minutes now, and I think it must really be for the Consulate anyway.
Has anyone had success getting this form from the San Francisco area and do they know how to get it?
Hi. I did it in LA so followed the same route for SF. If you go to this link there is a descriptor (in French but I used the translate in the search bar which worked fine). At the bottom there is a link to the form you need.
Hope this isn’t too late and if so you got sorted.
I am moving to France on May 1, 2025 and just learned that the air freight company I am using requires that I provide them with a Change of Residence Certificate from the French consulate in Miami. I did a search on their website and only found reference to such a document for French citizens returning to France. Is there a form I can complete to submit to the consulate, or do I need to go the consulate to obtain one? Does anyone have any guidance? Thanks!
Does this help?
https://uk.ambafrance.org/Certificat-de-changement-de-residence-Ce
It may or may not help but this note on the website of the French Embassy in London clearly says the Certificate is no longer needed by French Customs.
What I don’t know is whether this ruling is ‘UK to France’ specific or applies to all countries from outside Schengen. I did ask at the border when we moved and was told it was only ever useful as a document for French citizens registered with local Consulates. Worth seeing if there is a similar note on the website of the French Embassy in the US.
If its any help, our (UK) removals company likewise insisted on the certificate, and we were able to satisfy them it isn’t required, which they happily accepted.
I actually can’t see how any consulate can possibly provide any meaningful information on the whereabouts of (for example) US citizens in the US, or in our case UK citizens in the UK - ie how could they possibly know or certify the prior length of stay in your own country, other than from information you’ve given them, which becomes circular! It seems unlikely a consulate would go to the authorities in the country for factual confirmation. I suspect it is a redundant requirement, or if not, should be!
Hmm I did my Change of Residence certificate all by email but it was to the NY French consulate. I got a reply the next day and cert another day later. I had done a ton of paperwork getting ready for the move(I leave tomorrow) until my shipping company told me I didn’t need any of it since they go throught the Netherlands. I had to fill out 2 forms that took less than 3 minutes and customs were cleared.
I made contact with the consulate in Atlanta by email and believe they will issue the certificate to me as they sent me a credit card authorization to complete and return - which I did - before they closed for the day to the public. Hope to hear back and/or receive the certificate tomorrow. Thank you!